A Tournament for the Fifth
Chrion dismissed us from the game room so we could eat dinner before Mr.D released the Cleaning Harpies. The four of us walked to the Mess hall and chatted about the quest and who the fifth member of our team should be. I suggested one of my friends from the Hermes cabin. But he was currently at college. I was the oldest of the group and had been at the camp the longest so I knew a lot more campers. We decided to ask around after dinner and see who we could find on short notice. We had to meet the Egyptians on the Williamsburg Bridge in three days. This would give us plenty of time to practice with each other and learn as much as we could about the Egyptian's, their gods, and their monsters. I continued to run through a list of potential campers in my mind until we came to the Mess hall. We loaded our plates and grabbed a goblet that automatically filled with our favorite drinks. I sat down at my table and started looking at each table thinking of who would be the best demigod for the job. It was early fall and a lot of the campers had left for school already. The only demigods left were the year rounders, which meant there were less than a hundred campers now. I inhaled my dinner thinking of who to choose on such short notice. Angel, my pet cat, jumped onto the table, a chicken wing in her mouth. She had been at the meeting but had raced off once the meeting ended to snag something to eat. "Any ideas on who we should choose?" I asked her. "Hmm," She mused licking her lips. "Why should you choose someone, why not have someone prove himself to the four of you." I looked at Angel, l sometimes I forget that she actually gave good advice. I thought for a moment then stood and walked to the head table to talk to Mr.D. "Mr.D would you mind if I made a small announcement?" I asked. "What's the announcement Jacob?" He asked purposely forgetting my name. I briefly explained it to him and after a few moments he waved his hand allowing me to make my speech. I turned and faced the crowd of demigods. I raised my hands for quiet but no one noticed me. I raised my hands higher and a loud clap of thunder immediately silenced the hall all eyes were on me. "Heroes and Heroines!" I shouted. "For those of you who don't know me, my name is Joseph Mierek, Son of Zeus. The gods have selected Johnny Levine, Jason Knight, Alex Janicek and myself for a dangerous mission." I motioned for them to join me up front. Mr.D snapped his fingers and an image of the beast, Karokan, appeared over everyone's head. The camper's gasped in surprise and fear. I grimaced myself having never the beast before. "This is our target." I continued. "This beast was created by Hades and Osiris, the Egyptian god of the dead. From what Chiron has told us the beast was created to guard the Underworld and something called the Duat. Unfortunately the beast escaped from the gods' control and broke loose into our world." A mummer of uncertainty went through the crowd. "Our quest is to recapture the beast or to destroy it if we are unable to subdue it. This quest will not be easy. The beast can transform into any combination of animal or monster. It breaths fire, it's touch is poison, and it can teleport anywhere in the world." I waited a moment and let the information sink in. "The four of us are looking for one final member to join our quest. Think hard about this, we need someone strong, courageous, and most importantly, someone who works well with others. We are not the only ones embarking on this quest. Joining us will be the Magicians from the House of Life. A secret organization of mortals who have practiced magic since the beginning of Ancient Egypt. If we are to succeed we must join forces with them. So those who wish to join the quest, meet the four of us in the Sword Fighting Arena in one hour.There we shall determine who is most suitable to join our quest." With that I nodded to my fellow questers and we exited the Mess hall. "What was that?" Johnny asked his black eyes boring into mine. I chuckled and turned to the others. "Grab your weapons, magical items and armor and meet me in the arena as soon as you can. I will explain there." I said beginning to make my way to my cabin. I donned my Nemean armor, grabbed my silver throwing knives and summoned my staff, Changing Storm taking a few practice swings. Satisfied I walked to the Arena, demigods were already pouring in. Jason came out of his cabin and ran to catch up with me. We walked together for a few moments. Jason was a head taller than me even though he was younger. His armor was a grey-blue color and he carried a trident."So," he finally spoke."Who made you the leader of this quest?" I stopped and sighed. I had know this was coming ever since I made that speech. "Currently I am not the leader, I'm simply trying to find the last member of our group." I explained. "Once we have the final member of our group then we can decide on a leader. Now come on. We hurried to the arena where Johnny and Alex were waiting for us. The campers had piled into the seats of the arena to watch, several stood in the middle, practicing with their weapons and checking their armor. "So what's the plan?" Johnny asked leaning on a Stygian Iron sword. "Watch," I whispered walking to the middle of the arena. "Ladies and gentlemen," I shouted to the crowd. "We are here tonight to determine the final member for our quest. Each contestant will choose one of us to fight in single combat. Those who defeat us will move on to fight in an all out brawl. The last one standing will join us on our quest with the magicians to defeat Karokan." Several demigods backed away and into the stands. The others stood there and tightened the grip on their weapons. Suddenly a blinding light filled the arena and Dionysus appeared on a throne dressed like a Roman Emperor. "Let the tournament begin." He shouted raising a can of Diet Coke. Category:SonOfZeus1200 Category:Two Hells Category:SonOfZeus1200 Category:Two Hells